


A Gathering of Skies

by SpectersShadow117



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Bullying, Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied character death - but in another universe, Language, Major Character Death is in the Alternate Universes, Multiple Universes, Multiple beings in one person, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, SO MUCH SARCASM, Spoilers, Tsuna is So Done, canon suicide attempt, implied depression, probable OOCness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-10-30 04:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10869015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpectersShadow117/pseuds/SpectersShadow117
Summary: Tsuna has never been what would be defined as 'normal’, what with future versions of him coming back and taking place in his mind. But when the baby hitman shows up, everything goes awry and nothing happens like it should - according to the future hims, anyway. (T for Language and Violence, Gen).





	1. One Day At a Time

**Author's Note:**

> Another story by AngelicSilverWolf on FF.net. she wanted it here, so here it is. Sorry it took so long. As far as any works of my own... I'm flighty, so I'll post when I have some substantial down. More character and warning tags will be added with each update. Unofficially beta-ed, so there might be some mistakes Please enjoy!

“Speech”

_ Flashbacks/Other’s speaking _

_ ‘Thoughts’ _

**(#): A/N to explain stuff at the end.**

* * *

 

**A Gathering of Skies Chapter 1: One Day at a Time**

**By: AngelicSilverWolf**

_ 'Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time.’ – Lyndon B. Johnson _

* * *

 

There is a somewhat humbling silence after a battle, Tsuna thinks. It isn't really a conscious decision to remain silent, but perhaps out of respect for the fallen, and shock from victory, there isn't a real  _ need  _ to say something. Not that there is anyone left for him to talk to.

Post-battle jitters usually make an appearance as soon as safety is registered, as soon as there is knowledge that he won't be struck down for letting down his guard. He sits down gingerly - buckles at the knees, really, because he has been reckless and more than one bullet found its mark - minding his numerous injuries, and contemplates. There...isn’t anything left. His famiglia is gone-

_ Empty eyes empty heart please, God, no,  _ **_not his family_ ** _ - _

has been for a long time now. He has finally tracked down their killers, but to no end besides justice - reassurance that no one else will be harmed by them. But what about  _ him _ ? Even those that weren't of the Vongola... aren't around anymore.

_“Sorry, Tsuna.” Brown eyes look up, as soft as ever, in spite of the blood covering their owner's face. “...looks like I won't be able to see this through after all.”_ _The man smiles. “I'm glad I got to call you...my little brother.”_

There is no rejoicing or jubilation at his single-handed victory. There is only...weariness. Everyone is gone, and he will be too, judging by his wounds. And honestly? He is okay with that. It has been eight long years of being completely alone. He is ready to go on.

The Tenth boss of the Vongola lies down amidst the field of corpses and closes his eyes.

_ I'll see you soon, guys. _

…

* * *

 

_ Flashes of memories  _ (but are they really memories?) _ , good and bad. Faces pass in and out of his vision. But these people are dead and gone and gone and dead and never ever _ **_ever coming back-_ **

Tsuna sits up. He isn't panting, and he isn't shivering, but the inside of his mouth is bloody from where he has bitten holes in his cheeks and tongue. It's weird, because he normally wakes up at around five in the morning to continue his hunt-

_ bloodpain _ **_fury_ ** _ screams- _

Tsuna shudders and cradles his head in his hands. He is supposed to be dead. He'd had a  _ hole  _ in his  _ side. _ He’d been shot multiple times, in the right leg and his left arm. Why is he breathing? Then, he decides to actually look around - and gets a splitting headache for his efforts.

No...he shouldn't be dead. He is Tsuna Sawada, thirteen year-old outcast, not the leader of a Mafia group - or the remains of one. He curls up into a tight ball and bites back a groan. Shivering uncontrollably, he recites a few pieces of dialogue from a video game, ignoring the Others that ruthlessly twist his thoughts and bitterly hiss things at him. There are so _many_ of them. They don't like his moments of weakness - most of them. ( _The Decimo shouldn't be so weak_ , they say sternly. _You will die and take your Famiglia with you._ ) There are a few that just don't care anymore, but there is one that seems decent enough. He, at least, doesn't cause immeasurably painful headaches. Perhaps this is because he died before his family instead of the other way around. ( _As we should have done_ , the Others say bitterly.)

_ ‘Damn, another one _ ,’ he thinks wearily. And this one is another who is probably going to be more of a negative influence, seeing as he gives off a sense of being so very  _ done _ . But this isn't Tsuna, not really. Even though he  _ remembers  _ hearing gunshots, remembers the excruciating pain of being shot twice in the leg, even if it was dulled by adrenaline and his flames, and remembers with heartbreaking clarity the feeling of just...giving up. The latter is probably the worst, and he always strives to keep it from affecting him, but it doesn't always work.

Ever since the age of five, he has had future versions of himself from other dimensions come back and take up living in his head. It's like having multiple personalities, except that these are actual people who lived at some time or another, and who can't take over his body without his say-so, or unless he is unprepared and lets the memories overwhelm him (he may or may not have PTSD, he isn't sure). He hasn't yet figured out how to help them...move on, so he now has many Others - as he calls them - taking up space in his mind.

Sometimes he just wonders, ‘ _ Why me?’ _

The Others either laugh at his rhetorical (except they aren't always, he often actually wants answers) questions, or they whisper harsh and completely unhelpful things to him. ( _ Grow up _ , they tell him firmly.) They aren't always so negative, even if they tend to stay on the cynical side of things, sometimes they are something close to content. Those days are few and far between, unfortunately.

Tsuna has surmised that he only gets these...extra presences, because they were the ones with regrets or things they want to redo badly enough to come join  _ him _ . Lucky him (note the sarcasm). He supposes that he hasn't gotten anyone more...cheerful because  _ those  _ versions of him hadn't wanted to come back. He carefully uncurls from his ball, wincing at the stiffness in his limbs. He tiptoes down the stairs of his house ( _ burning, ruined, destroyed,  _ they whisper mournfully) and he not so kindly tells the voices in his head to  _ shut it _ . It's hard enough to function without constantly being questioned about everything.

He goes out to the front porch and tries not to scream in frustration and sadness, because the newest addition is - had been -  _ young _ . This latest Other had not even made it to his twenty-fifth birthday before diving down the rabbit-hole and into the Wonderland of Tsuna's messed up mind, which makes the other Others howl in outrage, and damn it, this  _ isn't him _ . He has no reason to feel so angry, so hurt and  _ done _ . But he does. The newest Other has locked himself away to grieve because Nana Sawada is still alive here, breathing steadily just a few feet away.

Part of him is in disbelief, while the rest wants to go wake her up and never let her go. Tsuna shakes this off. He has school in the morning, and while the Others marginally help him, they are overall somewhat detrimental because of who is  _ in  _ said school. Tsuna tries to keep his other selves calm, he really does.

He talks to them and listens to them rant or break down (it's a novel experience, having to listen to  _ himself  _ break down inside his own mind). And most of them are adequately adjusted (meaning they can function instead of being great metaphorical masses of screwed up emotions and PTSD) to being in his time period and dimension. But when he gets another tenant, it screws all the others up, and the memories really don't help the surges of emotions he gets on a daily basis.

He has taken to automatically attempting to connect with his other selves when they arrive, new and in emotional pain, because as much as they aren't him - not really - they are  _ parts  _ of him - and he has never been truly alone because of them. At the same time, he keeps quiet about their existence.

Not only is it out of self preservation (because he doesn't want to think about what people would do to know the future, or versions of the future, anyway), but it is his burden to carry, and it has been for the last eight years. The first had been the worst, because that was Tsuna's first time dealing with another presence in his head, and it hadn't gone very well. But Tsuna has adapted, and now he houses

over a dozen different Others, so he is somewhat used to the process (but not completely, because no one can  _ fully  _ adjust to having so many voices going at once all the time).

One of the older Others urges him to go to bed.

_ You have a big day tomorrow _ , he says with a modicum of gentleness that Tsuna can't be bothered with interpreting at the moment. The brunette doesn't bother asking his meaning, because his Others can be cryptic bastards at times, and they won't give up information unless absolutely necessary. Yeah, he has their memories, but a dozen lives worth of memories tends to get jumbled up, so he can almost never identify specific dates for what they will be without forewarning. It's probably better that way. At least he won't become a big ball of anticipatory stress.

He gets through the next day half out of it. The newest Other (Tsuna decides to call him Big T. Hardly original, but he has to keep things separate somehow. He's already used Tsuna the First, Tsuna-fish, 10th, and Double O Neo - doesn't make sense and does at the same time - and a few other names - among other names) manages to properly freak out at Yamamoto's appearance, which leads to Tsuna spending his lunch on the roof, wracked with nerves because Hibari is  _ right there. _ Somehow, his Others find his fear of the Disciplinary Committee Leader funny. He fails to see the humor in a tonfa-wielding tsundere (not his words) with well known violent tendencies towards society as a whole.

By the end of the day, he is weary and wary, and just overall ready to fall on his bed and be dead to the world for twelve hours straight. Which, of course, is when the world decides to sucker punch him in the place where it  _ really  _ hurts, because all he gets is an alert from his mom about some tutor named Reborn, and all the voices in his head clamor at the same time about  _ something _ , and then he hears a squeaky “Ciaossu” in the middle of trying to get the Others to quiet down so he can think for five seconds, and everything goes  _ Silent _ .

It's disorienting. Tsuna hasn’t had a moment of complete peace and quiet for the past eight years, which is why it catches him off guard. Maybe, if he had recovered faster, he wouldn't have allowed the Others to overwhelm him with memories and sensations. The instant Tsuna lays eyes on Reborn, the Others all let out a surge of emotion because Reborn means  _ friendshiplearningcomfortleadership _ **_family_ ** ,

and Tsuna almost drops to his knees. This doesn't go unnoticed, of course, but he mumbles something about a scam that throws his mother off, and he can only hope that Reborn will think him a weak and pathetic person, instead of suspicious. The newly self-proclaimed tutor studies him, but doesn't say anything. Tsuna isn't one for bragging, but he has developed a kick-ass poker face over the years, stemming from having a bunch of older versions in his head always running their mouths.

It isn't blank or a smile, just an innocent, normal face that one might expect to see on a person who is always tripping over thin air. He sometimes wonders who he's trying to fool into thinking he's normal. Himself? God knows no one else cares enough to ask, except for his mom. He loves his mother more than life itself, and he would probably jump in front of a train for her. Not that he ever shows it, but he isn't selfishly unaware of just how much his mother does for him like most kids are until age forty, even if she is a bit air-headed (and some of this comes from the memories of the Others, something he is eternally grateful for - the ability to appreciate all that his mother does and continues to do for him).

Somehow, the news of him being the next mafia boss isn't all that surprising, though he feebly protests, just because he can (and no one has  _ asked  _ him whether he wants to be one or not, the Others and Reborn just sort of...assume, and he's honestly just so used to it by now that he doesn't say a whole lot).

That night isn't too eventful, and Tsuna thinks that maybe the universe is giving him a brief respite. He actually doesn't have nightmares, but apparently this doesn't change anything, because when Reborn wakes him up with a kick to the side and a mallet to the head, he comes up swinging. Tsuna manages to pass this off as flailing as a result of having had a nightmare about the neighbor’s Chihuahua, and the Arcobaleno rolls his eyes.

This thought brings Tsuna up short. Arcobaleno. Arco-freaking-baleno. He shouldn't even know what that is. Or that Reborn is one.

His head hurts already.

The Others helpfully remind him that it is only seven in the morning and therefore entirely too early for this drama shit. He agrees, but argues that he can't do anything about it, and that it's  _ their  _ fault in the first place that he now has a migraine. They huff and sniff, or scoff and growl, but don't deny it.

A smile tugs on his lips, and he wonders if this is what it's like to have brothers. Then, he tells himself that it wouldn't be nearly so intimate, and that he should get up soon because Reborn is getting a dangerous gleam in his eye. The fondness that he feels towards the baby he barely knows (yet knows so well at the same time) is bizarre and not really expected, but Tsuna rolls with it and tries not to let it show, because he has learned nothing if not how to be adaptable.

They meet Kyoko Sasagawa, and romance is the farthest thing from Tsuna's mind at the moment, despite Reborn’s not-so-subtle hints.

“You like that girl?” Reborn asks, eyeing him carefully.

“I'd like to be friends with her, if that's what you're asking. But a crush? I barely know her,” Tsuna answers. His desire to  _ get to know someone  _ before making  _ any  _ kind of relationship with them stems from memories of betrayals and paranoia from his Others. Reborn says nothing, but Tsuna sees something that looks a bit like surprised approval in his eyes, which makes the Others preen and gives him a warm feeling in his stomach.

Or maybe that's just indigestion; it could be either, honestly.

…

Tsuna is glaring up at Mochida Kensuke. This  _ jerk  _ had the nerve to try and claim Kyoko as a prize - a prize!

“People aren't things,” Tsuna says through gritted teeth, “so don't treat Kyoko-san like some sort of trophy girl and try to  _ own  _ her. She's her own person.”

Kyoko is surprised, but grateful, and Reborn is analytical. Mochida sneers.

“Don't tell me what to do, Dame-Tsuna,” he says condescendingly. In another world, that would have hurt, would have made Tsuna shrink back.

But this Tsuna has been dealing with far worse than being called 'useless’ for the majority of his life, and right now, the Others are either deadly silent or raging at the one who was once a friend of some of them ( _ Traitor! We died for/with you! _ they howl).

“I will tell you to  _ back off  _ from Kyoko-san; can't you see you're scaring her?” Tsuna says in a steely voice, reminiscent of some of his Others’ 'Boss’ tones. This stops Mochida in his tracks, and he looks at Kyoko as if for confirmation, who flinches a little when his intense eyes meet hers. Something changes in Mochida’s demeanor, and an emotion akin to  _ shame  _ briefly crosses his face, before he whirls around without another word and walks away. Tsuna breathes a sigh of relief, because from what the Others have been telling him, that could have gone much worse.

He turns and sees Reborn eyeing him contemplatively, and Kyoko looking relieved. He waves aside her gratitude and just says that he was glad he could help her.

“Surprising, Dame-Tsuna,” Reborn says. “I will not need to teach you, then, that a boss must defend his allies, even at the potential cost of his own health.” The man-turned-baby jumps onto Tsuna's shoulder.

Tsuna smiles crookedly. “I learned a while ago to help out those who need it,” he says. Reborn, of course, does not understand his reference to the Others, but all in due time. As it is, the hitman remains contemplative for the rest of the day, shooting him assessing looks, as if he is changing entirely his view and knowledge on his new charge.

This does not really surprise Tsuna; he has been shifting people's opinions of him for longer than he can remember.

Apparently he changes more than one person's view of him, for the next day the volleyball team asks him to help them, saying that anyone who can make Mochida admit his mistakes can surely help a little bit in a school match (and he knew his newfound backbone would bite him in the ass somehow). He tries to argue against this logic by claiming that there  _ is  _ none to be had, but they wave it off. Standing up to someone is one thing, playing sports is another. Still, his Others are insisting on his participation in the game, and so against all logic and reason, he accepts and silently wonders what life is coming to.

The next day, he stares at the crowds of people eagerly awaiting the game and almost backs out, runs away. The Others kindly remind him that bosses always keep their word, prodding him to get it over with ( _ It won't be too bad _ , they urge). With a sigh, he steps forward to meet his temporary teammates. They clearly expect great things from him, which doesn't make him feel better.

The first half is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. He misses shots left and right, and he can tell that his teammates are starting to realize that just maybe; he had been telling the truth about his non-existent athletic abilities. But, he won't insult their efforts by doing anything less than his best, and maybe they realize this, that he's trying just as hard as they are, even if it's a bit useless. He has just enough time to regret his worthlessness, and then it happens.

The gun goes off and his Others let loose a thrum of  _ excitement _ , and then everything sort of fades away in a single minded determination, not to win, but to help his  _ teammates. _

“I will aid my comrades with a Dying Will!”

…

* * *

 

“What the hell was that?” Tsuna demands. He is standing in front of his tutor in only his boxers, having just helped his teammates win the game with a thirty point lead.

“A Dying Will bullet,” the baby says with a smirk. Tsuna now thinks that he looks far less innocent and harmless, what with what he just pulled.

“That tells me nothing,” Tsuna deadpans. His Others are clamouring for his attention, each eager to share about experiences with this bullet, ready to show him in a series of memories.  _ Later, _ he tells them firmly. If he goes in without an explanation, it will only confuse him more. Even the more taciturn ones are willing to tell about the importance of what just happened.

So, he learns of the Dying Will and the bullets, and the fact that he  _ could have died  _ if he hadn't regretted anything. This...is a little unacceptable, and not because he's afraid of dying. He refuses to leave his mother alone, as some glorified  _ trophy wife _ while waiting for That Man to return from his 'oil-mining job’ (Tsuna knew that was bullshit years ago). He does not like to think about the consequences of him not having regrets.

“What would have happened if I hadn't had regrets, besides the obvious,” Tsuna asks in a forced calm. Reborn shrugs, as if he couldn't possibly know or care. And he doesn’t, Tsuna realizes. This Reborn isn't the one that his Others know, the one that cares for Tsuna's safety beyond that of a mission. This Reborn won't feel anything besides perhaps disappointment if he dies.  **(1)** .

So, Tsuna grits his teeth, says something about a headache that isn't entirely false, and walks away. The Others have only gotten louder, and the headache is swiftly becoming a reality. To get the memories out of the way (because he doesn't  _ want  _ to see how Reborn  _ should  _ be, will be in the future, but isn't yet because it'll hurt a lot to know that someone who is supposed to be one of his closest friends only sees him in a professional and distant light).

He ends up beneath a tree in a park, which he braces himself against while trying not to scream. Then, the memories come flooding in, because the Others can apparently no longer hold them back. It goes a little like this: meetings and greetings, development of friendship and tortuous tutoring hours, promotion to boss after dozens of battles against people he doesn't recognize, and then the inevitable fall or death, and then rinse and repeat. Circumstances are different in each set of memories, but the ends are always full of despair and hurt and violence, ending with one question:  _ why _ ? Why did everyone die? Why was he left alone? Why didn't he save everyone? Why was he still alive when everything worth living for was gone? Just...why?

He comes back to himself with tears streaming down his face, his throat so tight he can barely breathe, and an ache in his heart that won't go away. His Others are mourning too, and damn it, he was supposed to have fixed this by now. But, he knows somewhere in the back of his mind, that it'll take a hell of a lot more than him talking to them to fix all of that. Then, he realizes that someone is talking to him, and the voice sounds terrifyingly familiar.

“Herbivore.”

He slowly looks up and sees Kyoya freaking Hibari looking at him with an unreadable expression on his face. This causes more tears to come out as the Others take one look and give pain-filled noises. Thoroughly embarrassed, but not really in the position or state of mind to do something about it, Tsuna scrubs his face clean of tears and shakily stands up.

“S-sorry,” he says. “I'll just...go.” He walks away, feeling Hibari’s gaze bore into the back of his head.

At home, he skips dinner in favor of being tired and too emotionally drained to be in the presence of people that his Others think should be dead. He lies down and sighs. He’ll deal with the next day and sort through the memories given to him later. For now he just wants rest. Tsuna will manage though, by pushing through each day, one at a time.

He always has.

* * *

 

**(1): Hm, yeah, that's a bit of the vibe I got from Reborn at first, but whatever.**


	2. A Stormy Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsuna has never been what would be defined as 'normal’, what with future versions of him coming back and taking place in his mind. But when the baby hitman shows up, everything goes awry and nothing happens like it should - according to the future hims, anyway. (T for Language and Violence, Gen).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to post this earlier, but truthfully, I just forgot. Sorry about the wait. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

“Speech”

_Flashbacks/Other’s speaking/Dreams_

_‘Thoughts’_

**(#): A/N to explain stuff at the end.**

* * *

  **A Gathering of Skies Chapter 2: A Stormy Arrival**

**By: AngelicSilverWolf**

_‘By chance we met, by choice we become friend.’ - Millie Huang_

* * *

 

Five year-old Tsuna is relatively simple in his wants and needs. He needs food, sleep and his Mama. That's it. He _wants_ some friends, but that won't be happening any time soon, so he sticks with asking for material items like crayons or toy cars. He doesn't want money or power or any of the ridiculously complicated things that adults seem to desire.

He lives a nice quiet life with his Mama in their two-story house in the town of Namimori, where the most interesting thing is the news of a quickly rising-in-power five year-old boy that is taking over the disciplinary decisions of the entire town (incidentally, the term 'bite to death’ becomes a very effective criminal and delinquent discouragement). Tsuna's father isn't in the picture almost at all, except for the visit the previous month that Tsuna doesn't remember too fondly since that was also the visit where his father allowed his grandfather to do something to make Tsuna function worse.

All in all, his life is uncomplicated and relatively easy, and he likes it that way. And then, the Other arrives.

Tsuna is sitting in the backyard, making pretend crash and car noises with his fire truck and small car as children are wont to do, when he gets a splitting headache and his view shifts as memories that aren't his pour into his brain, and he is filled with enormous amounts of confusion, fear, grief and _anger_ -

_He is thirty-five, going on a hundred, when he gets the news that his Lightning has fallen, and damn it, Lambo should have been **safe** \- _

No, he is a five year-old with too many emotions and he is gasping on his hands and knees in the front yard with no one to see him-

_His flames dance and burn when he alone storms the Millefiore family, they have taken everything from him so it's only fair that he does the same to them, revenge for the fallen Vongola-_

His mother has finally taken notice and she is asking, babbling, but he can't answer even though he wishes he could (but how could he answer when he doesn't know anything himself?)-

_He is thirty-eight, and he is dying and alone. The only consoling thing is that he will at least see his family again so that he can tell them how **sorry** he is- _

And Tsuna's world goes black.

He comes to with a roaring headache and the profound experience of sharing mental space with another living being. His Mama's reappearance nearly sets him off again, but the Other seems to realize this would be bad. At least the Other didn't have a dead Nana in his dimension (new word there that Tsuna shouldn't know), just a missing one. Tsuna passes it off as having dozed off, and then having had a nightmare about someone scary he had seen before.

While his five year-old self is not incredibly skilled in the way of lying and diverting, his Other's memories manage to make it passable. This does not make him feel any less guilty when Nana's face clears and she scolds him in a relieved tone. He promises to take better care of himself and to not worry her again, along with a few apologies that are quite sincere, and she leaves him to rest. Tsuna then turns to talk to this new being that has taken up residence in his mind.

What follows is a garbled and unclear explanation of who this Other is (and doesn't that just blow Tsuna's mind?) as well as a maelstrom of emotions that makes Tsuna dizzy. It is probably a good thing that the Other is so good at tucking his emotions away for later, since breaking the younger version of himself wouldn't be good in the slightest.

Tsuna hopes he doesn't get permanent mental damage from this. The five year-old comes up with a name for this Other so that he doesn't have to keep calling him 'Old dude' in his head. What he uses is hardly better (Yoshi ojii-san), but it will do for now. It takes them about two months for Yoshi ojii-san to stop freaking out at every little detail that Tsuna takes for granted, and for Tsuna to stop crying, passing out, or zoning out whenever his Other does said freaking out. They get into a routine.

Whenever Yoshi ojii-san starts to get tense, Tsuna does his very best to make himself absent and away from whatever is causing the reaction, usually disappearing to a tree or a convenient closet - or his room.

Thankfully, the Other stops feeling panicked around Tsuna's Mama, so the five year-old can stop avoiding her. In turn, the Other helps Tsuna out with school and physical shape. Tsuna takes to practicing katas, like the 'cool TV people', or so he tells his Mama. Tsuna also manages to become a little more responsible in his mother's eyes, for he takes charge of keeping his room clean and clutter free. Coincidentally, doing menial tasks like folding clothes or picking up trash helps calm down Yoshi ojii-san. It's a simple system, and it works. Mostly.

There are still nights when Tsuna wakes up to nightmares about memories that aren't his, and while his Other apologizes, both of them realize that they can't do much about the fact that Tsuna has seen and experienced Yoshi ojii-san’s life and eventual bloody end in flashes, and so therefore will never be innocent again. There are also times when Tsuna doesn't get out of view of the triggers of his Other, which causes horrendous amounts of painful headaches and blank staring as memory after memory plays before his unseeing eyes.

Still, life isn't _too_ awful, because Yoshi ojii-san is pretty damn (swear words at five!) funny and witty, and nothing at all like the timid boy that Tsuna occasionally sees in the memories passed to him **(1)**. So, when the _second_ Other arrived on the night of his sixth birthday, he could only think one thing;

 _‘Aw hell_.’

…

* * *

 

**_Present…_ **

Tsuna adjusts to having Reborn in his life with all the grace that a newborn lamb on crack does to walking, which is to say not very gracefully at all. While disturbingly used to the sudden and violent un-snoozable alarm that is his tiny tutor, everything else is something that needs to be mentally sorted through and placed into boxes for the 'Not to Freak Out At’ side of his mind. He _should_ be almost done with getting used to the changes that Reborn brings, but somehow his Others just don't get the memo that Tsuna needs some order in his life to function, so they adjust at the pace of a snail.

Not. Cool.

There is also the fact that Reborn apparently can't be consistent to save his life. Whether it's the going between the cute baby that Nana sees to the frankly terrifying Spartan tutor that is the first thing Tsuna sees when he wakes up, or Reborn's annoying habit of making everything in Tsuna's life his business to not caring at all if Tsuna has some trouble with bullies, Reborn is chaos personified, and Tsuna can't help but wonder how this is his life.

Fortunately, his Others aren't completely useless, for they give him little hints on how to be a Mafia boss and what to do and say - but the nightmares they give him are still a major pain in the ass. Reborn hasn't noticed, or if he has, he hasn't said anything, about the ridiculously frequent night terrors that Tsuna gets.

It's to the point where he has more consistent weeks _with_ them than without, but it's been off and on like that for a few of years, some years are better than others. They're about anything from getting tortured to death to seeing the world go down in flames while a man with white hair and marshmallows laughs in the background, to dreaming about checkers of all things. Not fun, to say the least.

Reborn _does_ notice how much sleep Tsuna gets, which - to clarify - is not much at all. He sends Tsuna to bed early and wakes him up even earlier, and when Tsuna tries to point out how counterproductive this is, he gets a kick to the chin and a speech about how brats shouldn't question their betters. Ah, well, at least it isn't a Mafia talk. Man, the Vongola should hire Reborn as their promoter, never mind a tutor. Want to know about the Mafia and how it can make life better or worse depending on how smart you are and how good at making coffee you are? Talk to Reborn, he'll answer any questions you have and ones that you don't.

But, thinks Tsuna as he finishes drawing the little fake ad he's made up on the fly in class - complete with a tiny hitman and bubble letters, as well as a few fireworks just for the hell of it - at least Reborn cares. Sort of. It's really just a concern for a target and mission success, but at least it’s there.

“Pay attention, class!” the teacher calls out suddenly, startling Tsuna into giving Reborn a slanted unibrow. Whoops. Sorry, Reborn. Hopefully he won't see it and then Tsuna won't-eh, who is he kidding, of _course_ Reborn will see it. His legs ache from the anticipation of the training to come.

“We have a new transfer student who was studying overseas in Italy. This is Gokudera Hayato.” And suddenly, the ad doesn't matter anymore, and Tsuna once again has a headache. This has been occurring far too often lately for his liking.

His Others are clamoring and yelling, shouting, whispering, crying, sobbing, and it is _entirely_ too much because Tsuna can't make heads or tails of why the hell this affecting them so much. He'll get to it later, but right now, he is really so far beyond done. This feeling only increases when the guy his Others are freaking out over comes up to Tsuna and _kicks his desk_. What the actual hell? Fondness and amusement are really the last thing he should be feeling - damn his Others - and so, with a determined set of his head, he ignores the questions and inquisitive looks from his classmates and stands up.

He walks over to the window, bows slightly to his teacher, nods primly at Gokudera, and then proceeds to jump out of the window because there is no way he is going to deal with this. Not today, not this week, if he's lucky, maybe even not ever.

He really isn't lucky.

Not one hour later only proves this theory since he is running around madly trying to dodge the bombs that his future best friend (yes, he registered who Gokudera is, and he’s kind of ashamed he didn’t recognize his own Storm Guardian, but once again, headaches - for days) is chucking at him. Damn Reborn, damn Gokudera, damn himself for sort of agreeing out of being intimidated by his tutor, and just overall damn the world. Fuck he needs some sleep. At least he has sorted out why exactly Gokudera is so touchy, but it was a little difficult to find the excuse acceptable for the boy who was trying to blow him up for a position that could never be his in the first place.

“Stand still!” Gokudera yells angrily, sending yet another barrage of dynamite his direction.

“And let you hit me?” Tsuna squeaks over his shoulder. And Reborn just watches through it all, traitor. “You must be out of your damn mind!”

This only serves to make his eventual - if he doesn't get Tsuna killed first - Storm Guardian angrier, and out comes another wave of explosives. “Hibari is going to _murder_ me and then follow me to the afterlife,” Tsuna groans, wincing as more craters form in the school ground cement.

His Others only laugh - assholes. This is a literal life or death situation, and they are just sitting back and laughing. Smokin’ Bomb indeed. Should be freaking Walking Arsenal.

He skids to a stop at the dead end between two sections of the school building and blinks stupidly for a few seconds. There is the telltale click of a gun, and he has just enough time to summon a regret before pain hits his head and there is _energy_. The next few moments are a bit of a blur, to be honest, but he comes out of his momentary high, and Gokudera is looking at him in amazement and resentment. This boils over into a stupid decision that leaves the boy surrounded by his own dynamite, and _how the fuck is this his life right now?_

Tsuna is a person who genuinely tries to do good, so he rushes forward and tackles moron away from danger, only moving when all of the dynamite have exploded, leaving both of them fairly unharmed for having been close to what was most likely an illegal amount of bombs. The next two minutes are equally surreal and jaw dropping as Gokudera goes into a mafia-be-damned kowtow, and proclaims himself a ready and willing servant.

Tsuna is so-ho done with today.

Reborn, the smug little jerk, comes forward and explains the policy of mafia and winners and losers and servants, and honestly? Fuck that. Tsuna doesn't say that in so many words, but the meaning is pretty much the same.

“Look, uh, Gokudera?” He's pretending to hesitate here, he knows this boy better than he knows himself because his Others have chosen this wonderful moment to share memories with him (and he really needs to work with them on _timing_. Tsuna having a terrible day because of hours of confusion, frustration and headaches? _Not a good time_ ).

“I don't need a subordinate or a right hand man, honestly. It would be a lot to handle and I'm thirteen - what teenager wants an eternal servant?” Tsuna says frankly, rubbing his forehead in vain hopes of staving off the wave of headaches and memories that are incoming. The look his gets for this statement makes him feel guilty for all of two seconds as he continues, “But...I would appreciate having a friend. You'd be my first one...ever, actually.” At least in this lifetime.

And isn't that sad. This hard working person wants to serve _him_ , useless, slowly cracking, and entrance to a terrible life and dozens of potentially violent deaths Tsuna, who has never had a friend before in his life. His Others don't count really, he doesn't know what they are but they aren't friends, just something unexplainable. Gokudera gives him a shiny-eyed expression of disbelief.

“M-me?” he stammers. “Jyuudaime, you want _me_ to be a-a friend?”

So maybe Tsuna isn't the only one with a mile-long list of insecurities. He musters a sincere smile. “Yeah. And we could start by you calling me by name,” he says gently. He keeps from flinching as Gokudera slams his head against the ground in a deeply submissive bow.

“You honor me beyond words, Jyuudaime! I-I am not worthy of calling you by name!” he exclaims passionately. Tsuna sighs. So - wait for it - done.

“I’m not comfortable with being referred to as a boss all the time, Hayato - can I call you that? So, just...Tsuna is fine,” he says.

A long, _long_ talk about proper addresses for friends later and Tsuna is showing Hayato his home.

“Eh? Tsu-kun has a friend?” Nana asks in amazement. Tsuna wishes she wouldn't sound so incredulous, but then again, he doesn't really blame her. She has thirteen years to back up her surprise after all. It is a little humorous to watch Hayato flail as Nana dances around him, positively squealing in delight.

“My, you're so handsome! Good job, Tsu-kun!” Nana praises, either not noticing or uncaring of the fact that Hayato’s face is alarmingly red (Tsuna bets on the latter, his mother is _devious_ , and he wouldn’t let anyone tell him differently). Tsuna takes pity on his newly established friend and manages to extract him from his mother's grasp with a promise of snacks and many study sessions to come.

In Tsuna's room, Tsuna bustles about to get homework and textbooks together while Hayato pulls himself together.

“Your mother is very nice, Jyu-Tsuna-kun,” Hayato coughs eventually, more pink now than red. Yes, Tsuna has managed to get his friend to call him an actual name, even if it’s with an honorific. A big improvement from ‘Tenth’ in his honest opinion.

“Yeah, she is.” Tsuna nods. Without another word, they begin, leaving Tsuna to wonder absently where Reborn has got to. This flies out of his mind as his Others remind him that he doesn't really have the brain capabilities to not pay attention to whatever Hayato has been saying for the past two minutes. As it turns out, Tsuna's new friend is _really_ smart. Like, genius smart. When he voices this aloud, Hayato goes red again. A shame, really, he has just gotten his complexion to be faintly pink, and now Tsuna just undid all of his hard work.

The rest of the day passes into night with studying easier and more enjoyable than Tsuna has experienced ever. Hayato is a godsend, patient like a saint and smarter than one too. He certainly beats Reborn's methods of tutoring. Gokudera goes home late that night, high in spirit.

It's good that he does, since Tsuna has a horrifying nightmare that night.

It starts out violently right away, a memory of a war one of his Others fought in.

_He is commanding his famiglia, trying to keep the number of casualties as low as possible, but their Intel was wrong, it is a trap. Their forces are halved within the hour, and the leftovers struggle to formulate a plan, not for a victory, but for survival. There is no victory from this. The battle wages before his eyes, tinted in an orange haze with a hint of desperation._

_They make it, lose a third of their remaining forces in the process, but the time to mourn is later because they're alive, and relieved green eyes meet his own-_

_Bang!_

“GOKUDERA!”

The hoarse scream is torn from his throat as he bolts upright. Stinging in his eyes and choked sounds let him know that he's crying and sobbing and coughing because he hurts and that horrible dull ache in his heart just won't go away. His Others are either trying to calm him down and shut him up, or are joining him in becoming hysterical messes.

He's such a fucking mess.

He doesn't know or care if Reborn is in the room and watching him break down from beneath his stupid sleeping cap. He hasn't had a nightmare so bad since the baby came, a couple weeks ago. If this is how he is going to react every time someone from his future/past makes an entrance into his life, he's very tempted to screw it and move somewhere else with his Mom. Not Italy, because Vongola is pretty much everywhere and that's the literal worst place to move to escape becoming part of the mafia, but maybe North America.

In order to stop fantasizing (or maybe it's really worth considering - his tightly wound sanity is at stake after all) and to calm down so that he doesn't become completely overwhelmed, he goes unsteadily to the bathroom to clean up and to soothe his throbbing throat, puzzled green eyes and red blooming on a dirty white shirt flashing continuously before his eyes. After scrubbing his face clean of tears, he makes his way back into his room and flops down on his bed. He doesn't want to go back to sleep, so what can he do-

“Dame-Tsuna. Care to explain that scene just now?”

And dammit. Of course Reborn has to have seen that. Tsuna opens one eye to see his tutor standing in the doorway to his bedroom, fully dressed, and looking for all the world like he's just been...pushed. Had...had Tsuna accidentally moved him aside in his haste to get to the bathroom? Oh, he is _so_ dead.

“N-not really?” Tsuna tries. He doesn't feel like it, but he knows he'll probably break if the hitman pushes. He's never been able to deceive Reborn.

“Too bad. Sit up properly and explain why I just witnessed you having a near panic attack,” the Arcobaleno says in a tone that brooks no argument. Well. Tsuna’s a little screwed. Something plausible, believable, and not too far from the truth…

“I sometimes get nightmares,” he blurts out. Though, he's stretching the truth already, because it's more like he 'often’ gets nightmares. “I, uh, they started when I was really young, and they've gotten more common. They're usually violent and bloody.”

“What are they about?” Reborn’s thoughts are anyone's guess.

“D-different things,” Tsuna mumbles, a stray hiccup making him stutter. He hurries to elaborate as his tutor’s eyebrow dances dangerously. “I mean, they can be about anything from me becoming Decimo to-to war. And, they aren't always the same even if they're on the same subject.”

“Explain,” Reborn orders sharply. He looks unnerved, which is what Tsuna wanted to avoid, but it's better than angry or, god forbid, frustrated. A frustrated Reborn is a hellish, demonic, and _scary_ _as fuck_ Reborn.

“Well, for instance, I've dreamed about-about these eight people that I don't recognize. Their faces are always hidden and they never speak, but I always see them together, fighting someone or something. B-but each time, the end result changes. Sometimes they all die, or they all get their differently colored flames stolen and they become...different, and it's never good.”

This is true, at least. He tends to get memories of the failure to break the Arcobaleno curse, and whether they fall to the Millefiori before getting a chance to even try and help themselves, or whether they become adults and then die to that damn famiglia anyway, or whether they just die violent horrible deaths, the attempts to get then back into their original fail, one hundred percent. Reborn’s expression is blank, but his eyes are piercing - so maybe not the best idea to bring up the Arcobaleno? Whatever, if his tutor pushes, he’ll just tell him the truth, about everything.

But, Reborn doesn’t. He looks at Tsuna for a moment, and then says calmly, “Get some sleep. We’re going to be busy tomorrow.”

And Tsuna...Tsuna can’t decide whether he’s disappointed or happy that Reborn dropped the subject.

He just decides to be confused - it’s not like that’s a new emotion for him.

...

* * *

 

One thing he does wish would be fixed - the bullies. They aren’t really dangerous, but they are rather annoying.

Take example A: the dumbass senior that gets his kicks from hurting someone more than three grades lower than him. And he doesn’t even have the decency to make his bullying creative. He just goes and does cliché actions, like throwing Tsuna’s things to the ground, which is then followed by Tsuna himself. Now, Tsuna has seen at least ten different weak points in the other person’s ‘fighting stance’ in the past five minutes alone, but he considers himself a better person than some lowlife who’s only chance at happiness is to kick younger people around. Normally, he would grant that happiness because he’s a nice person like that.

Now? Now, he’s stressed, _di_ -stressed, and more than a little irritated. Because of this, he doesn’t stand down and let him kick him and rough him up like usual. Instead, he gets right back up and channels a terrifying glare at the senior. And just so he’ll get the picture, Tsuna says in a frigid voice, “Are you done wasting my time?”

The senior is clearly taken aback at this sudden change in attitude, and he even retreats a couple of steps before catching himself. They have an audience, after all. A small crowd sometimes likes to come and watch Dame-Tsuna get the lights kicked out of him just because they all have sad and empty lives and this is the only entertainment they get. Well, too bad Tsuna doesn’t want to deal with that right now.

Gokudera is out with a cold, Reborn was particularly harsh in training that morning, and Tsuna’s throat is still healing from that nightmare two days ago. His Others have been incredibly moody, fighting with each other, which means: that’s right, more headaches. Joy! Normally, he doesn’t get so many head problems, he swears it’s a byproduct of Reborn’s continued existence in his life.

“Ha, Dame-Tsuna can have a backbone after all,” the senior says, trying to gain some nonchalance.

Neither Tsuna nor his Others are in any mood to deal with this, so he doesn’t rise to the bait. He just stands firm and levels his glare and makes himself look like he’s ready to fight, instead of ready to run. The senior doesn’t know what to do. How does he bully someone who doesn’t look cowardly and weak, but rather intimidating? It makes him nervous, which turns to anger. Good, Tsuna can use anger.

He’s a little pissed off himself, actually.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, you little shit!” the senior shouts furiously. He charges in with a form so sloppy that Tsuna actually takes a little time to be ashamed for him. Then, he calmly steps to the side of the wind milling fists and lets momentum to his work for him. The senior crashes right into the side of the building, and then slumps to the ground with a bloodied nose.

“Anyone else?” Tsuna asks in a deadly calm voice. He would be freaking out any other day, but he just can’t deal with this right now, so he shelves it aside for later. He’s always been relatively decent at compartmentalizing. He walks away from the silent crowd that parts like the Red Sea as he steps through it. He should be proud, this means that less people will bother him and more will take him seriously.

But the fear and suspicion only makes what would have been triumph turn to ash in his mouth. His Others encourage him to enjoy the acclimatize to being watched warily, to get used to it, but he shakes them off and firmly decides to ignore them for now. He’ll deal with the fallout of this encounter later. Now?

He has a sick friend to visit.

* * *

 

  **(1): Just to clear something up: Tsuna experiences and sees the memories/lives of his Others when they first arrive, and if they give him memories later on, not in nightmares. Also, since he is so young here and will eventually have over a dozen people in his head as stated last chapter, he doesn't remember all of the sordid details, so some things that he may have already seen will come as a surprise to him anyway. He will remember certain details about important memories he has viewed - like Reborn - but don't go expecting him to fix everything.**

**His Others come from alternate dimensions, which means that things that happened in one dimension didn't necessarily happen in the others, and so on. Because of that, he might not react in a completely logical manner at certain points in the story, or he may do something completely unexpected.**

**This isn't a fix-it, because he will certainly make mistakes and won't be perfect, and things will go better and/or worse than they did in canon and in other dimensions. Also, Tsuna doesn't always know what his Others are thinking, and vice versa, which is why he can hide things from them. They mentally communicate, sort of like talking, and he can feel strong emotions of theirs, like they can do with him.**  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I'll get on a regular schedule for this, but for now it'll be sporadic. Like the actual story, chapters will probably come out irregularly. Anyway, thanks for the patience, and if you wouldn't mind leaving a comment so Angel and I can see what we need to work on, it would be most appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it. The update schedule for whatever is posted on FF should be every other week or so. I'm not making any promises though. On the bright side, Angel says she's got the fifth chapter well under way.


End file.
